Resurrection (The Inherited War) (43 page)

“Sky, come in over.  Sky?”  It was her sister’s voice.   She looked at the time, nearly an hour had passed.  She had to make it back to one of the Nixa ships or she would be left here to pay the crimes of
her people by herself.  Shakily, she got to her feet and ran back to the staging ground.  She ignored her sister’s calls, she couldn’t face anyone right now.  She turned off her friendly ID tag once she was inside the perimeter and headed to the landing zone.

She was in luck, there was a shuttle about to take off and it had room for her.  She climbed aboard and headed back into space.  She opened a com channel to her people’s fleet, she got no answer and Snow had stopped calling.  She looked at the time, the hour had passed.  She was stranded.

“Hey who are you?”  Someone asked as they grabbed her by the shoulders.  “Turn on your tag and drop your helmet.”  More of the Worlders were turning to see what was happening, she had no choice.  She retracted her helmet.

“Well, well.  Look what we have here.”  The Worlder grabbed Sky and stood her up.  “I do believe the Commander said that you were all supposed to be gone by now or face the consequences.”  He roughly turned and shoved Sky into the bulkhead, while others stood and helped him restrain her.

“Sorry about this but orders are orders, frankly I always like you Nixa, too bad you chose the wrong side.”  The Worlder happened to be a medic and he injected her with a heavy dose of tranquilizers that put her to sleep immediately.  Sky collapsed on the ground and when she awoke she was in a cell on board The Justice.

~

Cole had left the command of the ground attack in the capable hands of Gavreal and had returned to fleet to assess their damages and see what strength they had left.  He also had the issue of Suns to deal with.  It was a stroke of luck really that Split, in his ethereal wanderings, read the former Admiral and discovered the deceit he hid.  Cole was also worried because Sky had disappeared.  Snow had been on the com since she was discovered missing and Cole was afraid she had thought he meant her when he was yelling at Fury.  He hadn’t known she was in the room to treat Split and had run off before he saw her.

Damn it, Fury had sent him over the edge and he had lost his cool.  He couldn’t have very well rescinded the hour time limit he had placed on the Nixa fleet and he couldn’t find Sky to tell her she didn’t have to go and apologize for what he said.

Cole’s only hope that she had made it to her fleet and was safely on her way home.  He would find her wherever she went and make things right.  He had heard Thalo’s stories and what they had gone through to rescue Cole.  They had never stopped trying and if it hadn’t of been for Fury’s refusal and mutiny they would have come right away.  They had done everything in their power and had just come up short.  Cole didn’t blame them anymore, he understood.

He was afraid that Sky didn’t know that though.  He had people out everywhere on the planet and in the fleet looking for her.  No luck as of yet, so he dove right into the fleet reports.  He spent hours meeting with Captains, Majors and Commanders of ships formulating a plan.  The Twin Worlds were weakened right now and needed his ships to stay until they could build more but Cole needed his ships to protect his people at Home.  He kept shifting ships around on the board but to no avail.

Frustration was gnawing at him and there was still one big unknown out there.  Where were the Roche?  They hadn’t seen a single Roche ship in system and none around the Esii Homeworld.  The Roche were the shock troops of the Esii.  They had used them countless times as fodder for their battles and they were conspicuously absent from the Esii fleet.  Cole sighed and rubbed his tired eyes.  He shoved the problem to the side and leaned back in his chair.

“Bring in Suns.”  He told the guards stationed at his door.  They saluted and left to pass word to the brig to bring the admiral up.  Cole waited, his anger mounting again.  A few moments later the door opened and a shackled and bound Nixa entered the room.  Cole forced himself to remain seated and relax.  Split and Thalo followed him in.

“Suns.”  Cole said.

“If I may ask,” Suns started, “Why was I arrested?”

Cole, never looked away from the Nixa.  “Explain what you told me Split.”

“We read the Admiral and discovered he was in contact with someone on Nixa.  He was being ordered to stall and delay any action for as long as possible.  He does not know who was giving him the orders but his family was being held as collateral for his continued good behavior.  He falsified reports and undermined any actions that would lead to premature action on his part.  He succeeded, until we arrived and found his treason.”  Split finished.

“Any thoughts on the subject Admiral?”  Cole asked as he leaned forward and rested his chin in his hands.

“Read my mind?  That is hardly evidence enough to convict me.  I don’t know why this Worlder has it out for me but I deny the charges.”  He crossed his arms and stared defiantly at Cole as if to say what now?

Split began to growl low in his throat but Cole held up a warning hand.  “I guarantee you one thing Suns, I believe what Split has to say and that is all the proof I need.  You see, I know a little about what Split can do and also that a being who would willingly follow someone to the hell that was the Esii homeworld, well that someone has earned my trust a thousand times over.”

A worried look crossed over Suns face.  He hadn’t expected Cole to go against him so fast.    “You must understand, they have my family, my whole village.  If I hadn’t done what I did, my people would have paid.”  Suns sank to his knees and began to weep.

Cole rose to his feet and walked to Suns.  He lifted Suns head so he could stare into his eyes.  “I have come to understand the Nixa in my captivity the way only the Esii have understood them to date.  You sacrifice whole peoples to save your kind.  You are easily bought and sold and no true ally to my people.”  Cole released his face and turned to walk away.

“Strip him and space him.  I won’t have him fouling my ship anymore.”  Suns began to wail and blubber.  He screamed and fought all the way to the nearest airlock.  He pounded on the door until the explosive vacuum of space pulled him out into its icy embrace.

“Somebody please find Sky for me.  Now.” Cole collapsed into his chair.  He saw the guards give each other an odd look.

“What, what is it?  Spit it out.” Cole looked at the Worlders.

“Sir, we also have another Nixa in the brig.  One that missed the fleets departure.”  They looked at Cole expectantly.

“Did he know the time limit?”  Cole asked.

“Yes sir.”  He responded.  It forced Cole into a corner; he had made the declaration very publically so he was forced to follow through.  “Out the air lock.” 

“Aye, aye sir, will pass the order for her to be spaced.”  Cole waved his hand and sent them on their way.  He sat for a moment then it hit him.  The guards had said “her.”  Cole was on his feet and yelling at the com.  He was running full bore towards the brig area of the ship.  He couldn’t seem to reach the guard detail and he knew time was running out.  He careened down the hallway yelling at everyone to clear out.  He hit the brig area and ran on to the nearest air lock.  He got there as the guard was reaching his hand out to open the outer door.  Cole leapt through the air and slammed into the Worlder, knocking him aside and to the ground.  Cole reached up and slammed open the inner door release.  The doors flew wide and Cole and Sky stood face to face.

She was naked and had tears streaking her face.  Her eyes widened as she saw her rescuer.  She screamed in anguish and collapsed to the floor.  Cole, crying himself, dove down and scooped her into his arms.  He yelled at the two guards to get her a suit as he held her to his chest.  Her body was wracked with sobs and she was saying something over and over.  Cole couldn’t make it out but he didn’t care.  He just kept telling her he loved her over and over again. Sky wrapped her arms around him and clung to him like a lifeline.

Someone brought a Second Skin and placed it next to Cole.  Cole draped it over Sky and activated it.  The Skin flowed and covered her body.

“Thank you.”  Sky said very quietly.

“No thank you.  It was because of you that I survived.  It was an image of you that I held in my mind when the Esii raped my brain looking for information.  It was my love for you that kept me fighting even though the odds were against us.”  Cole turned her tear streaked face up to look into his eyes, he wanted her to see his love for her reflected in his own eyes.  “I fought to come home to you.”  He leaned forward and gently kissed her lips.

She wrapped her arms around his head and crushed his face into hers.  Their tears mingled and turned from tears of sadness and sorrow to ones of happiness.  Cole felt whole, the part of him that had been missing was restored.  Sky finally released him and looked back into his eyes.

“I was there when you saw Fury, I was so scared of you right at that moment, I ran.  I tried to make it to my people but I was caught after the time limit ran out.  I thought you hated me for failing you.”  Her words were soft and weak.

“I am sorry, I didn’t know you were there.  I was mad and I lashed out at Fury.  I hold you and your sister separate from your people.  I never meant for you to leave me, ever.  But I warn you, I will deal with your people’s betrayal.  Soon.”

Sky slowly nodded her head.  “It is time, my people must learn to support their friend against their enemies and know when to sacrifice for the greater good.  I will stand by you, and for you.”

Cole shifter her weight slightly and cradled her in his arms.  In a deft move he hauled her up as he rose to his feet.  He turned with her weight in his arms and saw his other friends behind him along with Snow.

Snow was crying and clutching on to Jeth's arm.  Thalo was pretending to wipe a speck of something that had gotten in his eyes.  Cole smiled at his friends.  Snow rushed forward and wrapped her arms around both Cole and Sky.  Cole looked down at Sky and saw that she had fallen into an exhausted sleep.

“I need to put her to bed, she has had a rough few days.  There will be enough time to figure things out tomorrow, no interruptions unless it is urgent.  Thalo smiled and nodded and they moved out of Cole’s way.

~

Sky awoke in the dark and for a moment feared she was still in her cell.  Then she realized she was on a very comfortable bed and someone was next to her.  The events of the last day came crashing back into her.  She turned on the light and looked at the person in bed next to her, it was Cole.  He was back.  She turned off the light and snuggled up behind him.  She smiled in the darkness and vowed never to lose him again.

CHAPTER 31

Cole woke in a cold sweat.  Sky was sleeping peacefully next to him and making soft, almost purring noises while she dreamed.  The room was nearly pitch black, a faint glow from the rooms manual control panel was the only light.  Cole lay still and imitated deep sleep.  Something had woke him up, not an actual presence, nothing could have made it into his room on board his ship.  It was more of an intuition or some deeper sense of wrongness that had him awake in the middle of the night. 

Waiting and feigning sleep did nothing to bring clarity to his situation so slowly he rose from the bed and got dressed.  He shuddered slightly as the second skin crawled up his body, he didn’t think he would ever feel anything but claustrophobic in the stuff for a long time.  Quickly he brought his mind and body back under his control and slipped from the room.

Wandering through a ship during its skeleton watch, at least that’s what Cole thought it was called, could be eerie.   The crew, during non-battle stations, was at twenty-five percent watch which meant that the rest of the crew was asleep and that made the ship feel empty.  Footsteps echoed up and down the silent hallways.  A whisper could carry far and be almost directionless. 

Cole wandered for a time, traversing hallways and poking his head into various rooms on board.  Finally, growing bored being alone and not yet ready to return to bed, Cole headed for the bridge.  There would only be a dozen or so crew plus the night Captain connected to the ships bridge at this time.   Cole took a quick lift ride and stepped out on the bridge.  The two Marines on duty guarding the oblivious bridge crew snapped a sharp salute which Cole returned.

Cole moved forward and sat in his chair.  He lowered his arms and made the connection to the ship.  Instantly his conscious mind was on the VR bridge.  He waved his crew back into their seats before they could rise to attention.  He glanced over at the Night Captain.

"Thalo," Cole said by way of greeting.

"Shouldn’t you be asleep?"  Thalo responded.

"Shouldn’t you be too high ranking to be pulling night duty?"  Cole asked.

"Probably, but if I hadn't been on night duty before things might have turned out differently.  So now I kind of prefer it.  If shits going to break apart it will happen in the middle of the night and I don’t trust anyone else to handle it.  Though now that your back I can switch with you."  The last was said with a smile.  "So like I said.  Shouldn’t you be asleep?"

Cole paused and thought for a moment before he spoke.  "Hal, you there?"

"Of course, Cole," the AI responded.

"Make this a private conversation please.  Me and Thalo only."

"Done."  Was all he responded.

"Is this really necessary Cole?"   Thalo asked.

"Yes, I don’t want this to be general knowledge yet."  Thalo leaned back and brought his hand up to stoke his chin as Cole continued.  "What have you heard about what happened to me, to us down on the Esii home world?"

Thalo looked thoughtful for a moment before he spoke.  "Not much.  Split has been annoyingly closed mouthed about what happened and you haven't been too talkative yet either.  I know you were a prisoner, almost positive you were tortured and that you still ended up kicking their asses."

Cole snorted at Thalo's assessment of the previous month’s imprisonment he had undergone at the hands of the Esii.  Thalo waited for a response from Cole.

"Thalo, they did things, things I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.  They tried to break me.  Repeatedly, but I managed to turn things back on them.  They left more than scars on my psyche, they put all of their God damn history in my brain."  Cole hesitated a breath before continuing.  "I have been so busy taking care of my people, getting away from Esii and pounding them to atoms that I haven't had time
to process everything that happened there or what they left in my brain. Tonight, sleeping in a real bed next to Sky, it all crashed down on me at once.  I see flashes of memories that are not mine.  Smells, sounds, everything that bastard put in my head flashes in and out of my brain at will.  I can still feel the Esii torturers standing in front of me, forcing their minds into me.  Making me do things.  I'm going nuts Thalo, I can literally feel my mind slipping."

Thalo didn’t know what to say, probably for the first time in his life.

"What the hell, Thalo?  Say something."  Cole said angrily to his friend.

"Sorry, whoa calm down.  You just caught me off guard is all.  This is what I think.  I think that if you can tell your slipping then you can stop it, reverse it in a way.  You just need time and something to distract you is all.  If keeping busy is the answer, then think.  What needs to be done right now?"  He asked.

Cole thought for a moment and answered.  "My people need a home.  The Esii that could, fled the system and no one has seen a Roche ship for a while.  And the Nixa need to be dealt with as well.  Did I miss anything?"

"Not from my perspective, no."  Thalo responded.

"Ok, set course for Home then."  Cole ordered.

"Come again?"  Thalo asked.

"Home Base, the shipyards where there are about ten thousand human women about to give birth.  My first priority will be my people.  Until we are safe, the rest of the galaxy can take care of itself.  Of course we will leave a few ships behind to help secure your system until you are back to full strength, but I need my ships out looking for a new home.  I can keep my mind occupied with this for a while.  Hell I feel better already."  Cole smiled at his friend.

"Sure thing Cole, who should we leave behind?"

"Leave everything except The Smash and Grab.  Those two plus this big beast,” he patted the armrest of his VR chair, "can go home."  Cole said. "Give the order Thalo, take me home."

One hour later the orders had been given and the crews of the various ships had been briefed on their new missions.  The human ships that were to remain behind were transferred to the Worlders command.  The three ships that were leaving slipped silently out of the system and jumped into warped space.  The trip between the Worlder system and the system that contained Home Base lasted only a few minutes and soon all three ships dropped out of warped space. 

If they hadn't been awake before they had left, the reversion from warped space had definitely woken everyone up, that included Sky.  She rushed to the bridge after waking up disoriented from the reversion to normal space and saw Cole was gone from their bed.  She quickly dressed and asked for Cole's location from Hal.

She exited their shared quarters and made her way towards the bridge.  She ran into Cole as he exited the elevator to the bridge.

"What is it?"  She asked.  "Is everything ok?"

"Yes everything is fine.  We just returned to the shipyards."  He responded.

"Why?  I thought we were staying at in the Worlder system for a while."

"Change of plans.  My people have too much to deal with and they need my help, and yours.  In only a few days our population will more than double.  I need you there to oversee a few thousand births.  I had a few dozen medical volunteers brought up from the planet and medics from the other ships transferred to help out.  Also my people need a home and need to learn everything they can about our situation here."  Cole turned Sky and steered her back down the hallway towards their room.

"I can understand your wanting to be here and to help out but why the sudden change of plans?"  She asked.

"I can't explain it to you now.  I, I have my reasons and they are mine.  I may talk about it one day but that will be at my choosing."  Sky stopped and grabbed Coles arm.

"Just tell me one thing.  Does this have to do with our not rescuing you?   Are you mad at me?"

"Not everything is about you or your people Sky.  Maybe if you took the time to learn that you would stop selling everyone else out to save your own skins."  Cole snapped at her.

Sky's face fell.  She was hurt beyond words.  Cole turned and actually sneered at her for a moment before a brief confused look passed over his face.  He shook his head as if he was trying to recover from a punch to the face.  His eyes refocused and he saw the hurt on Sky's face.  Tears streaked down her skin and dropped to the floor at her feet.  She was desperately clutching her hands together in front of her. 

"I'm sorry,” Cole started to say, but was interrupted by Sky.

"No, don’t say anything."  She wiped at her eyes with her sleeves.  "I deserved, we deserved that.  Again my people failed you."  She whispered.

"No, damn it.  I shouldn’t have said that and I wouldn’t ever let anyone speak to you that way."  He strode forward and wrapped his arms around her and drew her in close.  "I love you Sky, more than you could know.  But, shit, I have a lot to work out.  I can’t talk about it now because I don’t know fully what has happened to me.  I am changing and I don’t know what I am going to turn into."

"No Cole, you are too strong to change," she started to say.

"Bull," Cole interrupted her.  "I can’t go into it now, I need time.  And space.  For a little while at least."  Cole placed his hand under her chin and raised her face towards his.  He leaned down and gently kissed her on the lips.  He put all the passion and love into that kiss that he could.  When he finally pulled away he grabbed her eyes with his.

"I need to be alone for a while, I think.  I need to straighten out my head and ensure the survival of my people.  I need to find them a planet and reseed it with life.  I want you there near me but I need you to respect these boundaries.  If you can't, I understand.  I know it is selfish of me to want you near but to stay away so it's up to you.  Stay or go?"

"Stay, of course stay.  I won't fail you again Cole, I promise."  This time it was Sky who pulled his face down to hers and initiated the kiss.  After a moment they separated again.  "I will do what you want."

"Thank you Sky, and no matter what happens remember that I love you and I will always come for you."  With that he turned and strode away. 

The next few days were hectic for Sky and her doctors.  Ten thousand pregnant humans were close to giving birth and all of them had multiple fetuses.  It would not be easy once they started to go into labor.  Sky saw Cole off and on over the next few days.  He wandered through the infirmary and barracks area offering kind words and encouragement to the humans who found this place their new home.  He spent much of his time with Hal on the command deck pouring through star charts looking for a new home.  She always smiled when she saw him and he would return it if he noticed her.  A dark shadow had fallen over his features and she had cornered and questioned Thalo about it one day.  Thalo wouldn’t talk.  He said Cole had spoken in confidence and it was up to him if he wanted to let Sky know what was going on.  Thalo reminded her that Cole was strong and whatever he was going through wouldn’t last forever.  Just give him the time and space he needed.

She threw herself into her work and made damn sure all of her charges and their babies would survive and thrive.  She wanted Cole to be proud of her.  She wanted her old Cole back desperately.

~

It was the middle of the night and once again Cole was unable to sleep.  Well more like unwilling to sleep.  It was always the worst when he was sleeping.  Everything always seemed so real and he had a hard time separating his sleep from his time awake.  He had taken to exploring the unused portions of the station.  This was his third night doing so and he had gone deeper than the previous two nights.

He had reached a dead end.  The hallway ended on a blank wall.  Which was odd, Cole thought, since someone had put a hallway here that seemingly lead to nowhere. He got close to the blank wall and inspected it.  Visually there was nothing.  It was the same metal as the rest of the station and was smooth and seamless.  He ran his hands over the surface but felt nothing, he couldn’t even connect to the rest of the station from here. He pondered this conundrum for a while before resigning to head back up and see if he could figure it out by checking out the station plans.

It irritated him that there was anything on this base he couldn’t control.  "After all," he said aloud, "this is my damn base and it should answer to me."  He knew there had to be a secret here somewhere and he wanted to see what lay beyond this wall.

He slammed his open palm against the impenetrable metal.  "Open up!"  He thundered at it. "I am in command here and this base obeys me!"  He screamed again, slamming his other hand against the wall.  To his surprise the whole wall pivoted on its left side and swung slowly backwards revealing a dark room beyond.  Cole stood silently and watched as the door fully opened.  The light from the hallway barely illuminated any of the room.  Cole stepped with confidence inside the very dark room.  As he passed the now motionless door and fully entered the secret room beyond, he felt more than heard the door slowly close behind him.  Without a sound it closed and cut off the last of the light from the hallway.

Silence reigned for the briefest of moments, then a voice from the darkness.

"So, my prodigy.  You found me sooner than I had hoped.  Nothing to do for it then, I guess I just move things along slightly ahead of schedule."  The voice cut through the darkness and into Cole's soul.

Cole recognized the voice.  He had heard it many times in his head since he had be taken from Earth and genetically altered.